There is an ever increasing need to reduce the size, weight, cost and complexity of particle accelerators in applications beyond the usual high-energy physics, nuclear physics and synchrotron light sources where the accelerator designs have been largely based on the traditional large, complex, high-voltage, high-gradient designs. As the use of particle beams becomes more diversified and commonplace, the limitations inherent within prior legacy designs are becoming more evident. In the medical field, for example, the availability of accelerators that can be used for imaging or therapeutic purposes is limited by their size and cost, and operational characteristics, such as whether the accelerator is a cyclotron or a linac, power consumption (typically in the MW level) and cooling requirements (water cooling towers or liquid helium refrigerators). As such, these accelerators tend to be located in communities and facilities that can support these constraints, such as major accelerator complexes with access to high-voltage electrical equipment, high-volume water cooling systems and/or helium refrigeration, major hospitals or large irradiation facilities for food and mail sterilization. Medical applications of accelerators have been predominantly used for electron acceleration for radiation cancer-treatment therapy. Further proton-beam therapy has been proven very efficacious in treating a variety of cancers with minimal side effects; however, proton-beam therapy is not as widely used as X-ray therapy for treating cancer. This is due to a $100M price tag for each proton accelerator (either a cyclotron or a synchrotron) and the proton beam delivering gantry system. As a result, only a handful of hospitals in the US offer their patients the proton beam therapy option. Unfortunately, the need for advanced care far exceeds the ability to provide it for those communities most in need. Most of the world's population does not reside near a hospital with particle beam therapy based on traditional accelerator designs, thus that population is denied the most advanced medical care available.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a compact and robust particle accelerator that can eliminate the structural and operational constraints on the provision of advanced medical care.